Iznik

Iznik (Turkish: İznik), formerly Nicaea (Greek: Νίκαια), is a town and an administrative district in the Province of Bursa, Turkey. The town lies in a fertile basin at the eastern end of Lake İznik, bounded by ranges of hills to the north and south. As the crow flies the town is only 90 km southeast of Istanbul but by road it is 200 km around the Gulf of Izmit. It is 80 km by road from Bursa.
The town is situated with its west wall rising from the lake itself, providing both protection from siege from that direction, as well as a source of supplies which would be difficult to cut off. The lake is large enough that it cannot be blockaded from the land easily, and the city was large enough to make any attempt to reach the harbour from shore-based siege weapons very difficult.
The city was surrounded on all sides by 5 km (3 mi) of walls about 10 m (33 ft) high. These were in turn surrounded by a double ditch on the land portions, and also include over 100 towers in various locations. Large gates on the three landbound sides of the walls provided the only entrance to the city.
Today the walls are pierced in many places for roads, but much of the early work survives and as a result it is a major tourist destination. The town has a population of about 15,000. It has been a district center of Bursa Province since 1930. It was in the district of Kocaeli between 1923–1927 and was a township of Yenişehir (bounded to Bilecik before 1926) district between 1927-1930.
The town was an important producer of highly decorated fritware vessels and tiles in the 16th and 17th centuries.
  
Iznik Pottery

The town became a major center with the creation of a local faïence pottery-making industry during the Ottoman period in the 17th century (known as the İznik Çini, Çin meaning China in – Chinese porcelain stood in great favour with the Sultans.) Iznik tiles were used to decorate many of the mosques in Istanbul designed by Mimar Sinan. However, this industry also moved to Istanbul, and İznik became a mainly agricultural minor town in the area when a major railway bypassed it in the 19th century. Currently the style of pottery referred to as the İznik Çini is to some extent produced locally, but mainly in Kütahya, where the quality – which was in decline – has been restored to its former glory.